Trick or treat?

Pumpkin Head

Just in time for Halloween, the ludicrously gigantic sphere that now dominates the Las Vegas skyline is done up as a jack-o'-lantern, complete with an animated face that makes a variety of ghoulish facial expressions.

Besides a scary pumpkin, the over $2 billion structure has in the past mimicked a massive baseball, planet Earth in all its blue gauzy glory, and a gross-looking eyeball.

Roy Orbison

The orb, officially called the Sphere and the world's largest spherical structure, is able to project these images on its outer surface because it's essentially a 580,000-square-foot LED display. Inside, it's an iMax theatre on steroids with  a 160,000-square-foot LED display wrapping the interior, designed to be immersive and "billed as world’s largest video screen."

It also rocks a 17,600-seat stadium and a staggering 164,000-speaker audio system, all in a footprint of 516 feet wide and 366 feet tall.

For the Sphere's grand opening in late September, the band U2 christened the Madison Square Garden-funded venue with a live concert as part of its 25-show residency. They seem like the perfect match: mass entertainment venture in Sin City paired with a notoriously corporate-friendly band.

Hype Balloon

So does it live up to the hype now that people have been able to sit inside it for a show?

Reviews have been coming in online and so far it's mixed. On Tripadvisor, people have either been wowed or meh about it.

"A spectacular event at what must be the most impressive venue with sound quality the best I have ever heard," one reviewer wrote. "Visuals unbelievable. U2 rises to the occasion with an outstanding performance."

Others were scathing.

"Very disappointed with the U2 concert," another griped. "Did not play their hits. The sphere was not used at times during the concert. Sometimes when it was used it had nothing to do with U2 — it was just showing cool effects. I wish I didn’t go. It was not worth the money."

Needless to say, the sterling reviews and crowds need to come quick — because the orb is amazingly expensive, with its budget ballooning from $1.2 billion to more than $2 billion.

Will it make money in the long run, or become a victim of inflated expectations? We won't be taking bets on that question, that's for sure.

More on the Las Vegas Sphere: Enormous $2 Billion LED Orb in Las Vegas Looks Absolutely Deranged


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